Presentation delivered by Dr. Robert W. Herdt (Cornell University, USA) at Borlaug Summit on Wheat for Food Security. March 25 - 28, 2014, Ciudad Obregon, Mexico.
http://www.borlaug100.org
2. Invitation from Tom Lumpkin…
• Invited my “perspectives about what
the world will look like in 2050, an
what that means for agricultural
research and development.”
Herdt; March 26, 2014
3. Herdt; March 26, 2014
Agricultural commodity prices have declined
in real terms over the long term.
Adjusted for inflation (2005 = 100)
Life expectancy has increased everywhere
Life Expectancy, years
1800 1960 2000
Europe, N. America 35-40 68 75
Egypt, India, China,
etc.
25-35 40 65
Nigeria, Kenya, etc. 25-35 38 60
4. Major causes of death in children under 5 with disease-specific
contribution of undernutrition, 2004
http://www.who.int/healthinfo/global_burden_disease/en/
Herdt; March 26, 2014
5. What will the world look like in 2050?
Will there be enough food?
What should agricultural research do?
“It is difficult to
make
predictions”
“Especially about
the future”
Yogi Berra, NY Yankees
Herdt; March 26, 2014
7. CGIAR Global Futures project
Economists, Modelers, Biologists, Political scientistsHerdt; March 26, 2014
8. The World in 2050
• More people, more crowded
• More polluted
• Hotter & dryer on average
• Better connected
• More volatile weather, prices
• Wealthier on average, more unequal
• Will global agriculture keep up?
Herdt; March 26, 2014
9. Herdt; March 26, 2014
Monday, July 2, 1973
Rice is life
itself in Southeast Asia, and
this year, there is not
enough to go around. Last
year’s bad weather has
turned the region’s usual
bare sufficiency into severe
shortage.
The result: smuggling,
hoarding, soaring prices and
hungry people.
11. Herdt; March 26, 2014
LR Global Agricultural Demand Prospects
• Global Demands on Agriculture =
Demand for Food +
Demand for Energy +
Demand for Ecosystem Services
• Industrial country food Demand is flat
• Industrial country growth in agricultural Demand
is largely for Energy & Ecosystem Services
– Impact on developing country people depends on how
closely they are “connected” -- Globalization
• Developing country growth in agricultural
Demand is largely for food
– Growth in demand for food depends on:
population, income, preferences
12. Herdt; March 26, 2014
Total fertility rates for the world and regions, 1950-2000 (medium variant)
14. Table 1a. Global total demand for farm output from population
and from all sources in selected years from 1961 to 2050
1961 1975 2000 Variant 2025 2050
Total agricultural demand relative to the year 2000
Population only 50 67 100 Low 124 127
Medium 131 150
High 138 176
Total agricultural demand Low 135 152
from income, energy, environmental demands Medium 143 179
High 151 209
Source: CAST 45 (2010)
Herdt; March 26, 2014
15. Table 1b. Global total demand for farm output from population
and from all sources in selected years from 1961 to 2050
1961 1975 2000 Variant 2025 2050
Total agricultural demand relative to the year 2000
Population only 50 67 100 Low 124 127
Medium 131 150
High 138 176
Total agricultural demand Low 135 152
from income, energy, environmental demands Medium 143 179
High 151 209
Source: CAST 45 (2010)
Herdt; March 26, 2014
16. Table 2. Index numbers of agricultural production, global
FAOSTAT 2004-2006 = 100
World 2001-02 2004-06 2007-09 2010-12 % ‘10-’12
vs ‘01-’02
Total Agriculture 90.1 100.0 108.3 115.5 28%
Food 90.3 100.0 108.7 115.8 28%
Cereals 91.9 100.0 108.7 112.9 23%
Livestock 91.6 100.0 108.0 113.9 24%
Source Extracted from FAOSTAT March 5, 2014
Herdt; March 26, 2014
17. Table 3. Index numbers of agricultural production, Global and Africa
FAOSTAT 2004-2006 = 100
Region 2001-02 2004-06 2007-09 2010-12 % ‘10-’12
vs ‘01-’02
Total Agriculture, World 90.1 100.0 108.3 115.5 28%
Total Agriculture, Africa 84.8 100.0 107.6 119.2 40%
Food, Africa 84.4 100.0 108.3 119.9 42%
Cereals, Africa 91.6 100.0 108.0 113.9 24%
Livestock, Africa 86.4 100.0 112.2 121.7 41%
Source Extracted from FAOSTAT March 5, 2014
Herdt; March 26, 2014
18. Table 4. How much food consumption is adequate?
Average kg/capita/yr, 2006-2009 (FAOSTAT) and constructed
Cassava Maize Rice Wheat Beans Fruits &
Veggies
Meat
Bangladesh 1 7 171 17 1 46 4
India 6 5 68 55 3 114 4
Haiti 31 20 42 27 7 90 16
Dominican R 11 6 47 28 5 213 54
Malawi 72 134 5 6 5 85 6
S Africa 1 100 16 63 3 76 52
Low-income
Inadequate
50 100 190 10 1 50 2
Low-income
Adequate
5 10-50 50-100 25-50 6 100 25
Herdt; March 26, 2014
19. Table 5. To eliminate undernourishment in
2050: 236 to 298 mmt grain equivalent
Starchy
staples
Fruit &
Vegetables
Beans &
Legumes
Meat Total
Low-income
undernourished consume
kg/cap/yr in 2010
180 75 5 9
Low-income adequate level 110 150 10 36
Increase kg/cap by 2050 -70 75 0 27
Increase * Poor population
2050
-(800*70)
million kg=
56mmt less
800*75= 60
mmt
increase
800*5=
4mmt
increase
800*27=
21.6 mmt
increase
Cereal resource
requirement equivalent
1 3 2 5-8
Change in cereal equivalents
million metric tons
-56 180 1 108-173 236-298
Herdt; March 26, 2014
20. Table 5. To eliminate undernourishment in
2050: 236 to 298 mmt grain equivalent
Starchy
staples
Fruit &
Vegetables
Beans &
Legumes
Meat Total
Low-income
undernourished consume
kg/cap/yr in 2010
180 75 5 9
Low-income adequate level 110 150 10 36
Increase kg/cap by 2050 -70 75 0 27
Increase * Poor population
2050
-(800*70)
million kg=
56mmt less
800*75= 60
mmt
increase
800*5=
4mmt
increase
800*27=
21.6 mmt
increase
Cereal resource
requirement equivalent
1 3 2 5-8
Change in cereal equivalents
million metric tons
-56 180 1 108-173 236-298
Herdt; March 26, 2014
21. Table 6. To eliminate undernourishment in
2050: 236 to 298 mmt grain equivalent
Starchy
staples
Fruit &
Vegetables
Beans &
Legumes
Cereal
equivalents
of Meat
Total
Change in cereal
equivalents million
metric tonnes
-56 180 1 108-170 236-298
Current global
production
1171 1414 16 1395-2232 3996-4833
Increase above
market demand
-4.7% 12.7% 6.2% 7.7% 5.8-6.1%
Herdt; March 26, 2014
22. Conclusions from the above:
The non-market needs of the 800 million undernourished requires 6-10% more
output: This is easily achievable with little increase in food prices, as the record shows
What is needed, in addition:
1. Food entitlements for the undernourished
Higher rural incomes and/or food distribution or subsidies
2. Health, education, dedicated nutritional interventions, off-farm income
The role of agricultural research
1. Continue increasing productivity of main crops
2. Raise productivity of crops grown by the poor
3. Raise requirements for hired labor, which is supplied by the poor
4. Improve the stability of production
5. Reduce the risk of price gyrations
Herdt; March 26, 2014
23. Fig. 1 Malawi Maize Production 1990/91-2008/09
Annotated with Input Programs
Herdt; March 26, 2014
24. Lessons of the Malawi (E/S Africa)
Maize Experience
• Smallholders (the only maize producers in
Malawi) are quite responsive to opportunities
• When available, fertilizer is used and
increases yields in the SR
• On-farm yields show very little LR trend
• A set of underlying physical and biological
constraints limit yields
• Agricultural research can address those
constraints, but must change to do so
Herdt; March 26, 2014
25. Needed changes in agricultural research
• Continue past rate of productivity growth
– Higher yielding systems
• Reduce the risk of price/policy gyrations
• Raise productivity of crops grown by the poor
• Raise requirements for hired labor, which is
supplied by the poor
• Improve the stability of production
Herdt; March 26, 2014
26. From a former member of a CGIAR
Center Board
“I am wondering how it is possible that the wisdom
of those who made the CGIAR what it used to be,
have left this part of the world not only untouched
but, in many ways, worse off than 50 years ago. We
had 4 PhD´s in 1970, now there isn´t one in the
country. Science and research are practically non-
existent, school children among the most backward
in reading comprehension, math etc. All this is a
country whose economy is, relatively booming. So we
live surrounded by unimaginable poverty, with the
farmers abandoning their tiny parcels which did at
least produce some food, and joining the sprawling
urban slums.”
Herdt; March 26, 2014
27. Needed changes to increase productivity on
small, resource-limited farms
• A more balanced research agenda:
– National and international
– Biological and policy and institutional
– On-station and on-farm
– By researchers and by farm facilitators and by
farmers
– To Generate and Incorporate and Disseminate and
Translate new knowledge
Herdt; March 26, 2014
28. Needed changes to increase productivity on
small, resource-limited farms
• A more balanced research agenda:
– National and international
– Biological and policy and institutional
– On-station and on-farm
– By researchers and by farm facilitators and by
farmers
– To Generate and Incorporate and Disseminate
and Translate new knowledge
Herdt; March 26, 2014
29. International agricultural research needs to
change to help raise productivity on small,
resource-limited farms
• Adjust agendas to:
• Move beyond “international public goods”
• Assist national programs to
– Do more to Incorporate and Disseminate and
Translate new knowledge so it is suitable for low-
resource farmers
• More crop management research: appropriate
legumes? timing? methods? livestock-crop
systems? micronutrient deficiencies? markets?
• Obtain more of the genetic production potential
in the varieties available and being produced
Herdt; March 26, 2014
30. International agricultural research needs to
change to help raise productivity on small,
resource-limited farms
• More effective systems for:
– Seed multiplication, sales and delivery
– Fertilizer recommendations, sales and on-time
delivery
– Credit facilities
– Irrigation technologies
• Work hand-in-hand with NGOs and other
technology delivery channels
Herdt; March 26, 2014
31. International system needs to help build
national applied research capacity
• Change the culture of the applied agricultural
research system by raising its prestige and
convincing actors that success is reflected in
rising farm output.
• Ensure the relevance of the technology to the
needs of small holder farmers by evaluating the
technology in farmers’ fields and viewing “the
farmer as boss.”
• Recognize the long-term nature of the process
and ensure its sustainability.
• Drive the process to scale across the continent.
Herdt; March 26, 2014
32. What is needed to improve the well-being of poor,
limited-resource rural people?
What should international agricultural research do?
“When you come
to a fork in the
road,
Take It.”
Yogi Berra, NY Yankees
Herdt; March 26, 2014
33. References
• Buchanan, Gale, Robert Herdt and Luther Tweeten, Agricultural Productivity Strategies for
the Future: Addressing US and Global Challenges (2010), CAST Issue Paper 45, January 2010
(CAST, Washington, DC).
• Denning, G, P. Kabambe, P. Sanchez, A. Malik, et al. (2009) Input Subsidies to Improve
Smallholder Maize Productivity in Malawi: Toward an African Green Revolution. PLoS Biol
7(1): e1000023. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1000023
• Ellis, Frank, Elizabeth Manda (2012) Seasonal food crises and policy responses: A narrative
account of three food crises in Malawi. World Development Vol. 40, No. 7, pp. 1407-17.
• FAO, IFAD and WFP. 2013. The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2013. The multiple
dimensions of food security. Rome,
• FAO. FAO, Statistical Yearbook of the FAO:
http://www.fao.org/docrep/018/i3107e/i3107e.PDF
• Mann, Charles K., Malawi: Farm Input Programs and Maize Production: Reflections (2014).
(Food Security Advisor in Malawi, 1987-1990, 1993-1996; Former economist with Harvard
Institute for International Development, Falmouth, MA. Email:
charles_mann@hks.harvard.edu
• Ngwira, Amos R., Jens B. Aune , Symon Mkwinda; On-farm evaluation of yield and economic
benefit of short term maize legume intercropping systems under conservation agriculture in
Malawi (2012) Field Crops Research Volume 132 pp.149 - 157
Herdt; March 26, 2014